Bangladesh court grants 4 week extension for Airtel, Robi deal

NEW DELHI: A Bangladesh court has given four more weeks to Robi Axiata for registering the Airtel Bangladesh amalgamation scheme with before the Registry of Joint Stock Companies ( RJSC).

"Robi has today received the extension from the High Court for registration of the Scheme with RJSC of four weeks from 9 November 2016," Bharti Airtel said in a BSE filing today.

Bharti Airtel and Malaysia-based Axiata Group are in process of merging their operations in Bangladesh to create the second-largest operator in that country.

The High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has approved the scheme of amalgamation of Airtel Bangladesh with Robi.

In its order dated September 21, the High Court had directed both the companies, Airtel Bangladesh and Robi, to register the Scheme with Registry of Joint Stock Companies (RJSC) within four weeks from the date of order. However, the deadline was missed by Robi and the court further granted extension for the registering the scheme.

Airtel Bangladesh has a customer base over 9 million and Robi Axiata Limited has approximately 28 million users. The combined entity will make it the second-largest telecom service provider in that country in terms of subscribers.

Airtel entered Bangladesh by acquiring 70 per cent stake in Warid Telecom in 2010; while in 2013, it picked up the remaining 30 per cent too.